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===Princess the bear=== |
===Princess the bear=== |
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England lost their beloved Diana, Princess of Wales on August 31, 1997. Ty announced the Beanie Baby Princess on October 29, 1997 in honor of Princess Diana. Ty said that all proceeds would be donated to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. The Princess Diana Beanie Baby was sent to vendors to distribute in the second week of December 1997. Some vendors had to wait until February 1998. Ty released only 12 Beanie Baby Princesses to each vendor. The vendors were to do what they liked with the Beanie Baby. Some auctioned them off to raise more money for the fund, some gave them to employees & some sold them at regular price. There was such a high demand for the Princess Beanie Baby that Ty decided to make more. All proceeds would also go to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial fund. |
England lost their beloved Diana, Princess of Wales on August 31, 1997. Ty announced the Beanie Baby Princess on October 29, 1997 in honor of Princess Diana. Ty said that all proceeds would be donated to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. The Princess Diana Beanie Baby was sent to vendors to distribute in the second week of December 1997. Some vendors had to wait until February 1998. Ty released only 12 Beanie Baby Princesses to each vendor. The vendors were to do what they liked with the Beanie Baby. Some auctioned them off to raise more money for the fund, some gave them to employees & some sold them at regular price. There was such a high demand for the Princess Beanie Baby that Ty decided to make more. All proceeds would also go to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial fund. Mary Beth Beanie World magazine printed an exclusive Princess edition (Vol.1 No.3). In her article she quoted a letter she had gotten from Ty Europe saying, “In 1998 everyone should be able to get one. There will be no differences on the tags or anything else so there will be no reason for anyone to have to pay outrageous amounts for this bear.” That statement couldn’t be further from the truth. There are more differences then I have ever seen one Beanie Baby have. Before I list the differences let me also add that the Princesses heart tag is the only one that does not clearly fit in to any other generation’s heart tag category. Let me list the differences for you. They are as follows: 1.) Q.) Why do some heart tags and tush tags say made in China and some say made in Indonesia. A.) All U.S. Princess Beanie Babies were made in China. In February 1998 all Princesses that were shipped to England were made in Indonesia & all Princesses that were made for Canada and the U.S. were made in China. 2.) Q.) Why are there two different pellets? P.E. Pellets & P.V.C. Pellets??? A.) It is said that the first release was P.V.C. pellets only but there are many who think that both P.E. pellets and P.V.C. pellets tush tags were released at the same time. Later reports say that the P.E. Tush label was a mistake and that lab tests confirmed that P.V.C. pellets are in both labeled babies. All Beanie Babies started out with P.V.C. pellets. Durring the winter of 1997-1998 the P.E. pellets started to show up on the 6th generation tush tag. All beanie babies are now made with P.E. pellets. 3.) Q.) Is there a double space on the heart tag? A.) There is a double space in-between the lines that say “will be donated to the” & “DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES” on some heart tags and on other heart tags there is no double space. One of the few things that everyone agrees on is that the first release does NOT have the double space. 4.) Q.) Are there 2 different colored flower stems? A.) Yes, there are 2 different colors of green. One is a bright green and one is a pale green. It is agreed upon across the board that the Bright green is the first release. 5.) Q.) Why is there a red circle China number stamp inside some folded tush tags but not on others? A.) An addition was added to the 6th generation tush tag in June of 1998. Some of the 6th generation tush tags started to have the red Chinese stamp inside of the folded tush tag. This stamp indicates which factory the Beanie were produced in. If the Princess has this stamp it cannot be the first release. 6.) Q.) Why do some Princess bears have the Signature Logo? A.) In March 1998 News reports that all commercial products marketed as donating monetary proceeds to the memorial fund must first have the approval of the memorial fund. The product must have the funds Logo. |
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So what Beanie Baby Princess do I have and how much is it worth? My answer to that question is simple. Something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. In my opinion the Princess Beanie Babies that should hold a higher value are listed below: 1.) Bright green stem, Made in China, P.V.C pellets, No Double Space in Heart Tag, Release 12-97 Retired 12-97. 2.) Bright green stem, Made in China, P.E. pellets, No Double Space in Heart Tag, Released 12-97 Retired 12-97. 3.) Pale Green Stem, Made in China, P.E. pellets, No Double Space in Heart Tag, Released 1-98 Retired 2-98. The most important part of this Bears release is that since 1998, Ty Inc. has donated over $20,890,858.51 to the Fund. All of Ty Inc.'s profits from the original purchase of the Princess Beanie Baby® and Princes Beanie Buddy® are donated to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund to carry on the work of the late Princess Diana. |
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===Decade the bear=== |
===Decade the bear=== |
Revision as of 15:27, 1 October 2009
A Beanie Baby is a stuffed animal, introduced on January 8, 1993, and made by Ty Inc., which was founded by Ty Warner. Each toy has an inner "posable lining" and is stuffed with plastic pellets (or "beans") rather than stuffing (see PVC and PE), giving Beanie Babies a flexible feel. A Beanie Baby is essentially a fancy bean bag in the form of a stuffed animal.
The original nine Beanie Babies launched in May 1993 were Legs the Frog, Squealer the Pig, Spot the Dog, Flash the Dolphin, Splash the Whale, Chocolate the Moose, Patti the Platypus, Brownie the Bear (later renamed "Cubbie") and Punchers the Lobster (later renamed "Pinchers"), although Patti, Brownie and Punchers were introduced earlier.[1]).[2] The line became a phenomenon in the late 90s when Beanie Babies became both a fad and a collectible. Ty decided to stop making Beanies in 1999; however, consumer demand made Ty Warner change his mind. He continues to run Ty Inc. and design new Beanie Babies to this day.
Teenie Beanies, an offshoot of the Beanie Babies line, were made by additional manufacturers for a few McDonalds Happy Meal promotions.
Sociology of Beanie Babies
The phenomenon of Beanie Babies is an example of a product of popular culture. Based on the sales and revenue of this toy, Ty Inc. created an empire worth over $6 billion. In 1995, there was fear that this hot commodity was slowly losing interest to the general public. To their surprise, there was exponentially increasing demand for the product, resulting in a profit of $250 million in the following year, with substantial re-sale value in the secondary market. In 2008 they released a follow-up line, Beanie Babies 2.0.
Marketing strategies
Much of the success of Beanie Babies can be attributed to the marketing strategies of the company [3]. The ten strategies employed by Ty Warner included:
- Reasonable Price: Ty Warner wanted to keep Beanie Babies selling at a reasonable price, but did not want to mass produce them. In doing so, he followed steps 4 and 5 by limiting production and distribution by only selling to smaller retailers.
- Keep it Secretive: Ty Warner was able to keep people interested because they weren’t jaded by the constant advertisements that most large toy companies use; when people don’t know what to expect, it becomes more appealing.
- Surprise People: Unpredictability became entertaining to the mass public and made people even more eager to engage in the collection process of Beanie Babies.
- Limit Production: Limiting production ensured that keeping some Beanie Babies rare would keep people excited.
- Avoid Large Chain Retailers: Unlike most toys that are mass produced and retailed to major toy stores, Beanie Babies were sold at smaller, more refined specialty shops. This helped sustain the authentic image of Beanie Babies.
- Simplicity: Because only a few different colors of fabric were used for each Beanie Baby, costs were kept low. At the same time, this simplicity appealed to everyone because what they saw is what they got.
- Personification: Personification made Beanie Babies easier to relate to; every Beanie Baby had a Ty tag with a unique name, birthday, and poem. This only increased the excitement of the buyers because it was no longer just a stuffed animal.
- Variety: Producing a variety of Beanie Babies attracted everyone because this tactic aims to please everyone’s taste. This ploy also made serious collectors more eager to collect every Beanie Baby out there.
- Retirements: Retirement created frenzy among Beanie Baby consumers. When Ty would retire a certain Beanie Baby, demand would increase, while supply came to a halt.
- Risk: Every previous strategy that Warner developed was a risk, and he succeeded in going against the norm. [4]
Although his plan was unique and could have been a set up for failure, Ty Warner founded an empire in creating a craze that was original.[citation needed] This made competition to the wide variety within the product line of Beanie Babies limited; substitutes were rare and unsuccessful in the market place.[citation needed] Even so, people thought they were making an individual and unique selection, when in actuality, their choices were confined within the Ty Inc. corporation.[citation needed] With the ten strategies, and the limited competition, Ty Warner had created a culture of his own in the way he produced Beanie Babies.[citation needed]
Mass culture
Even though one of the purposes of the ten marketing strategies was to avoid mass production, Beanie Babies were still mass consumed by the general public at the peak of their popularity.[citation needed] By avoiding mass production, Ty Warner gained an upper hand in the sales of toys; he was able to keep a high demand of Beanie Babies while still sparingly producing them.[citation needed]
Collectibility
Beanie Babies began to emerge as popular collectibles in late 1995, and became a hot toy.[5] Ty systematically retired various designs, and many people assumed that all "retired" designs would rise in value the way that early retirees had. The craze lasted through 1999 and slowly declined after the Ty company's announcement that they would no longer be making Beanie Babies and made a bear called "The End".[6] The line was brought back with completely new styles in early 2000 as a result of an online vote[7] over whether more Beanies should be released. Many believe that the mass retirement and subsequent revival were a publicity stunt,[8] but Beanie Babies had fallen out of favor with many children by the time the line was relaunched. In recent years, the popularity of Beanie Babies has continued to fade. Some of the more common styles can be found fairly cheaply. New Beanie Baby designs continue to be released, and increasingly include bears and limited edition items. On December 27, 2007, Ty made a massive retirement of its Beanie Baby line, retiring over 240 styles of Beanie Babies, leaving only licensed characters, key-clip versions of popular Beanie Baby styles, popular store exclusives and country exclusives as current. On January 2, 2008, Ty introduced a "replacement" line called Beanie Babies 2.0, the next generation of the beanbag toys. While the aforementioned current styles will continue to be produced and special Beanie Babies will be released, the remainder of future retail styles will be produced under the new line, in which collectors can purchase their Beanies and use a scratch-off code to go online and play with their new pet in a virtual world, much akin to other collectibles like Neopets and Webkinz.
Tags
The tags on Beanie Babies are considered a very important part of its value. It is widely believed by collectors that a Beanie without a tag loses half of its value. Every Beanie Baby has at least two tags: a swing tag (also known as a "hang tag", "ear tag" or "heart tag"), and a tush tag (usually attached to the Beanie's rear end). Both tags have gone through many changes over time; these changes have become known as "generations". There are currently 15 generations of swing tags and 13 generations of tush tags. Additionally, there are also extra tags for certain regions that include things like safety information to comply with the Canadian Stuffed Articles Act or the CE Mark requirements in Europe.
A few tag "generations" have become particularly noteworthy. Most Beanie Babies with first, second, or third generation hang tags have held their value (or in the case of some harder to find styles, increased in value), while fourth and fifth generation hang tags indicate Beanies that were available during the Beanie fad.
Beanie Babies 2.0
In an attempt to beat out the Webkinz craze[citation needed], in early 2008, Ty decided it was time for Beanie Babies to go online. This new version of Beanie Babies was called Beanie Babies 2.0. The purchase of a Beanie Baby 2.0 provided its owner with a code to access a Beanie Babies interactive website
Rarity
During the Beanie Baby craze, the rarest general issue beanie, according to the Winter 2000 edition of Ty Beanie Babies, published by Collectors Value Guide, was considered to be the dark blue variation of "Peanut" the elephant. Peanut was available well into 1998 in a lighter hue, but the dark blue version that was only made accidentally in 1995 rose in value because of its scarcity. "Nana the monkey" was considered the second rarest Beanie Baby; because only a few early 3rd gen tags use that name instead of Bongo. The early wingless version of "Quackers" the duck, "Chilly" the polar bear, the earlier versions of "Nip" and "Zip" the cats, "Peking" the panda bear; a series of colored bears named "Teddy" (which are even harder to find with the earlier "old face"), and "Humphrey" the camel also command high prices. Some special edition Beanies, such as the #1 Bear or the Billionaire bears (which are only available as gifts to Ty employees), are hard to come across and highly valued. Earlier editions of common Beanie Babies (particularly with first or second generation hang tags) are often sought-after by collectors. Particular hang tag variations in mint condition continue to make record prices on eBay.
In the hysteria of the late 90s, the bears were perceived to be the most sought-after beanies, and often carried inflated price tags - however, many of the popular bears have since turned out to be fairly common.
Notable Beanie Babies
Garcia the bear
Garcia the bear was released in January 1996 and retired in May 1997. He is a tie-dyed bear that seems to be a tribute to Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead. The band used to use a set of colored dancing bears as their logo. The guitarist and the bear share a birthday, but the bear was supposedly "born" the year that Jerry died. The fast retirement for this Beanie Baby was due to an alleged lawsuit that the Garcia family filed against the Ty company, claiming that the name "Garcia" was used without permission from the family. In cooperation with the lawsuit, Garcia was retired and a similar bear named Peace was released.
The bright colors on Garcia the bear made him one of the most popular Beanie Baby styles. Many people enjoy trying to find different colors on Garcia and community of tie-dye collectors [9] continue to make the bear's value unpredictable.
Princess the bear
England lost their beloved Diana, Princess of Wales on August 31, 1997. Ty announced the Beanie Baby Princess on October 29, 1997 in honor of Princess Diana. Ty said that all proceeds would be donated to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. The Princess Diana Beanie Baby was sent to vendors to distribute in the second week of December 1997. Some vendors had to wait until February 1998. Ty released only 12 Beanie Baby Princesses to each vendor. The vendors were to do what they liked with the Beanie Baby. Some auctioned them off to raise more money for the fund, some gave them to employees & some sold them at regular price. There was such a high demand for the Princess Beanie Baby that Ty decided to make more. All proceeds would also go to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial fund. Mary Beth Beanie World magazine printed an exclusive Princess edition (Vol.1 No.3). In her article she quoted a letter she had gotten from Ty Europe saying, “In 1998 everyone should be able to get one. There will be no differences on the tags or anything else so there will be no reason for anyone to have to pay outrageous amounts for this bear.” That statement couldn’t be further from the truth. There are more differences then I have ever seen one Beanie Baby have. Before I list the differences let me also add that the Princesses heart tag is the only one that does not clearly fit in to any other generation’s heart tag category. Let me list the differences for you. They are as follows: 1.) Q.) Why do some heart tags and tush tags say made in China and some say made in Indonesia. A.) All U.S. Princess Beanie Babies were made in China. In February 1998 all Princesses that were shipped to England were made in Indonesia & all Princesses that were made for Canada and the U.S. were made in China. 2.) Q.) Why are there two different pellets? P.E. Pellets & P.V.C. Pellets??? A.) It is said that the first release was P.V.C. pellets only but there are many who think that both P.E. pellets and P.V.C. pellets tush tags were released at the same time. Later reports say that the P.E. Tush label was a mistake and that lab tests confirmed that P.V.C. pellets are in both labeled babies. All Beanie Babies started out with P.V.C. pellets. Durring the winter of 1997-1998 the P.E. pellets started to show up on the 6th generation tush tag. All beanie babies are now made with P.E. pellets. 3.) Q.) Is there a double space on the heart tag? A.) There is a double space in-between the lines that say “will be donated to the” & “DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES” on some heart tags and on other heart tags there is no double space. One of the few things that everyone agrees on is that the first release does NOT have the double space. 4.) Q.) Are there 2 different colored flower stems? A.) Yes, there are 2 different colors of green. One is a bright green and one is a pale green. It is agreed upon across the board that the Bright green is the first release. 5.) Q.) Why is there a red circle China number stamp inside some folded tush tags but not on others? A.) An addition was added to the 6th generation tush tag in June of 1998. Some of the 6th generation tush tags started to have the red Chinese stamp inside of the folded tush tag. This stamp indicates which factory the Beanie were produced in. If the Princess has this stamp it cannot be the first release. 6.) Q.) Why do some Princess bears have the Signature Logo? A.) In March 1998 News reports that all commercial products marketed as donating monetary proceeds to the memorial fund must first have the approval of the memorial fund. The product must have the funds Logo.
So what Beanie Baby Princess do I have and how much is it worth? My answer to that question is simple. Something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. In my opinion the Princess Beanie Babies that should hold a higher value are listed below: 1.) Bright green stem, Made in China, P.V.C pellets, No Double Space in Heart Tag, Release 12-97 Retired 12-97. 2.) Bright green stem, Made in China, P.E. pellets, No Double Space in Heart Tag, Released 12-97 Retired 12-97. 3.) Pale Green Stem, Made in China, P.E. pellets, No Double Space in Heart Tag, Released 1-98 Retired 2-98. The most important part of this Bears release is that since 1998, Ty Inc. has donated over $20,890,858.51 to the Fund. All of Ty Inc.'s profits from the original purchase of the Princess Beanie Baby® and Princes Beanie Buddy® are donated to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund to carry on the work of the late Princess Diana.
Decade the bear
Decade the bear was made in honor of Beanie Babies' tenth anniversary. Decade bears were made in white, royal blue, red, purple, orange, hot pink, green, gold, brown, and light blue.
Counterfeit Beanie Babies
Counterfeit Beanie Babies began to surface in 1997. Early on, cheap knock-offs and fakes of commons were widely available at discount prices [10], but when the Beanie craze began to fade, counterfeiters started focusing on rarer releases and country exclusives. Although it is unlikely that people are still manufacturing fakes,[citation needed] older fakes continue to surface on eBay.[citation needed]
Some counterfeit versions of real beanies were made that had never been produced by Ty. For example, there are some red fake "Pinkies" and mint green fake "Quackers" out there.
Cases
The FBI strictly cracked down on counterfeit beanies in the late 1990s, and some people were prosecuted for direct known involvement in their commerce. For example, a St. Louis Park, MN couple was sentenced to prison, probation, and fines for their involvement in smuggling counterfeit beanies [11]. York, England authorities seized more than 6000 Princesses and Britanniae from a ring. [12]
Media
During the wake of Beanie Babies' success, many Beanie Baby-centric publications were issued. One of the largest was Mary Beth's Bean Bag World, a monthly magazine dedicated to Beanie Babies and competing plush toys. This magazine ran from 1997 to 2001.[13]
Licensed Beanies
In the late 2000s, Beanie Babies modeled after characters from popular children's franchises by Nickelodeon, DreamWorks and Paramount began appearing. These included characters from cartoons on the Nickelodeon television channel such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer, as well as characters from DreamWorks Animation movies such as Shrek the Third.
Competitors
In wake of the toy line's success in the late 1990s, many competing plush toy lines were started. These included Puffkins,[14] Meanies,[15] and various others.
References
- ^ Amy Carr (August 14, 1997). "Those Beanies are still hot, and there's no sign of the craze slowing down".
Punchers the red lobster. Originally introduced in 1993, Punchers was redesigned in 1994 and renamed Pinchers.
{{cite news}}
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ignored (help) - ^ The Perfect Store: Inside EBay via Google Books
- ^ Becker, H. S. (1982). Art Worlds and Collective Activity. Art Worlds. 1-39.
- ^ Ty Warner's Marketing Strategy. (2008). http://www.aboutbeanies.com/marketing.html
- ^ Ty Beanie Baby Beanies News
- ^ Ty Beanie Baby Beanies News
- ^ Ty Beanie Baby Beanies News
- ^ Ty Beanie Baby Beanies News
- ^ Peace Mania Magazine
- ^ Chicago Sun-Times:: Search
- ^ Couple sentenced for selling counterfeit Beanie Babies.(NEWS) - Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) - HighBeam Research
- ^ British authorities seize 6,000 counterfeit Beanie Babies - AP Online - HighBeam Research
- ^ "Want The 'Scoop' On The Beanie Industry For The Millennium?". PR Newswire. 1999-12-10. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ^ Bossmin, Lydia (June 1998). "The New Puffkins Collectibles". Mary Beth's Beanie World. 1 (5): 36–38.
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suggested) (help) - ^ "New Meanies could give Beanie Babies competition". The Sun-Herald. pp. F6. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
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